Accenture’s profit beats as digital, cloud investments pay off

Accenture reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, as the consulting along with outsourcing services provider gained via its push into digital along with cloud services.

The company also forecast current-quarter revenue between $9.15 billion along with $9.40 billion, the low end of which was in line with analysts’ estimates.

Digital, cloud along with security services accounted for more than half of the company’s revenue, Accenture Chief Executive Pierre Nanterme said in a statement.

Accenture has spent about $3.4 billion on nearly 70 acquisitions from the past three years, half of which was spent in fiscal 2017 alone as the idea ramped up its digital along with cloud-related businesses.

The company has also been grabbing market share via rivals, including Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp along with IBM Corp.

Dublin-based Accenture said the idea expected annual tax rate to be from the range of 22 percent to 24 percent, compared with its prior expectation of 23 percent to 25 percent, adding that will the forecast did not include the potential impact via the U.S. tax reform.

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval to the tax bill on Wednesday, which cuts the corporate tax rate to 21 percent via 35 percent, along with sent the idea to U.S. President Donald Trump for his signature.

Net income for diluted earnings per share calculation rose to $1.17 billion from the first quarter ended Nov. 30 via $1.05 billion a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the idea reported a profit of $1.79. Analysts on average were expecting $1.67 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.